The kingdom is working with many countries on green and blue hydrogen projects and those to capture carbon emissions. The green version of the fuel, which produces only water vapor when burned, is made with renewable energy, typically solar and wind power. The blue type is produced from natural gas, with the greenhouse gas emissions being captured so they can’t escape into the atmosphere. While hydrogen is seen as crucial for the switch from oil and gas to cleaner fuels, the technology to make it is still expensive. State energy giant Saudi Aramco is leading the nation’s efforts with blue hydrogen. When it comes to green hydrogen, Pennsylvania-based Air Products & Chemicals and local firm ACWA Power International are building the world’s biggest such plant at Neom on the Red Sea coast. The country is committed to carbon neutrality, he said, without giving a time frame for achieving that. And reaching the goals set out in the Paris climate agreement will help the Saudi economy become less reliant on oil.
Saudi Arabia’s past efforts to boost renewable-energy production have met with little success. Germany, a country not known for sunny weather, has become one of the world’s biggest producers of solar energy, largely thanks to heavy government subsidies that helped spur the industry. Oil remains crucial to the economy for now, and Saudi Arabia is leading efforts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to restrict supplies and bolster prices. The kingdom is not worried about the impact of the latest coronavirus wave on oil demand. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members are benefiting, he said, from Riyadh’s decision earlier this month to unilaterally cut crude output by 1 million barrels a day in February and March.